Band Aids and Latex

I'm mildly allergic to latex. I found out in the same way that most people attempting to keep from having a baby find out that they're allergic to latex.

At any rate, I say mildly because I've never had trouble breathing because of latex, and you'd think I'd have trouble while blowing up balloons. Instead, what I have is mostly a contact allergy. One year, I blew up (with helium) and tied over two hundred balloons. I could not understand why my fingers were hurting so bad. Suddenly, as I was tying that last balloon, I realized that my fingers were about twice their normal size and bright red. They looked like fat, red, water balloons. That's when I realized that I did in fact have a latex allergies.

Fast forward 3 years. Whenever I go to a hospital, I have to tell them I have a latex allergy. I think about it when tying balloons. And, I make sure never to buy latex gloves. But, I never thought about bandages having latex. Several nights ago, I covered an infection with Neosporin and a bandage. The next day, the infection was worse, and there were spots all around the area. So, I put more Neosporin and another bandage. This continued for several days, getting itchier and itchier until finally, it occurred to me that, duh!, these bandages probably contained latex. I read the box, and sure enough, there on the box was a warning that the bandages contain latex. *sigh* One of these days, I'll get used to being allergic to latex and actually pay attention.

Now, what Gary was saying while I was typing this: Weak genes, weak genes, weak genes. Weak genes, weak genes, weak genes. He's such an understanding husband. ;)